Fire-escape.



No. 64|,664. Patented Ian. 23', I900, B. w. AHNE.

FIRE ESCAPE.

(Application filed June 22, 1899.)

(N6 Model.)

v :INVENTOI-Q WITNESSES MM Tram Er 0., wnumoinn. u. c.

Nirap STATES BERNARD WILLIAM Al-INE,

OF FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed June 2 2, 1 8 9 9 To all wltom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERNARD WILLIAM AHNE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Lee, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Thisinvention has reference to an improvement in fire-escape appliances, the object be-;v

ing to provide novel and improved means for facilitating the escape of a person from a burning building; and the invention therefore consists, essentially, in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts, substantially as will be hereinafter described and claimed. 7

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is aside elevation of my improved fire-escape. Fig. 2 is an enlarged top edge view. Fig. 3 is a detail View of a portion of the mechanism for regulating the pressure on the rope. Fig. 4 is a detail side View of a modified form of the roller-supporting frame through which the rope passes.

Like letters of reference denote like parts in all the figures.

A A designate two tong-levers, which are pivoted together at A, having the lower arms a a and the upper arms b b, the latter being preferably curved, as shown. The rope, which is intended to be securely fastened to some immovable part of the building, down which rope the appliance is designed to slide with a greater or less degree of speed, depending upon the regulation of the proper devices for controlling speed, is indicated by referenceletter B. The arms I) b have their contiguous ends slotted or forked at b to provide recesses, wherein are situated rollers or wheels 0 G of any suitable kind-as, for instance, gear-wheels or friction-wheels or any other style of wheelsaid wheels being supported on the journal-bolts c c. Slotted plates D D are employed to connect the bolts 0 cand afford a fair amount of play for the wheels 0 0 toward and away from each other, it being noted that said wheels grip the rope B between them, the force of the grip upon the Patent No. 641,664, dated January 23, 1900.

Serial No. 721,451. (No model.)

rope being determined by the weight of the person suspended from the apparatus and also more particularly by the mechanism forming a part of myinvention, which I have devised for regulating the pressure on the rope. The ends of the lower arms a a are furnished with rings E E, and each ring E has a loose ring F engaging it.

G is a snap-hook adapted to engage the straps, harness, or other suspension devices 'upon the body of the person. Two ropes II and H are fastened to the hook G and lead in opposite directions toward the ends of the arms a a. The rope II, which leads toward the left, passes through the loose ring F at the left, thence toward the right and through the loose ring F hung at the lower end of the right-hand arm a, and thence backward to the left-hand ring E, to which it is firmly secured. The rope H extends to the right and is fastened to the ring E, that is fixed on the lower arm a. Thus it willbe seen that a weight suspended on the hook Gwill, through the medium of the rope H, draw upon the left-hand arm a and urge it toward the other arm a, the result of which-would be to cause the wheels 0 O to press against the rope.

- (A pair of pivoted bars may be used in lieu of the ropes H and H, or other substitute devices may be employed.

I denotes a horizontal rod or bar having the screw-threaded ends 11 t', and also at or near the center thereof an integral upwardly-extending arm J, that is slotted at its upper end j to engage the pivot-bolt A. A horizontal eyebolt K is supported in the left-hand arm a near the lower end thereof, and through this passes one of the screw-threaded ends t'of the rod I. There is a crank-handle L at the left of said bolt K, having a nut Ztraveling on the end sectiont'and pressing against the bolt K or relaxing its pressure, accordingly as the crank-handle is turned in one direction or in the other. In order to diminish friction, the bolt K may be provided with a vertical roller 0, adapted to roll on the top edge of the rod I during the movement of the crank L. On the other end section 71 of the rod I is a similar crank-handle L, having a flanged nut Z, the flange of which engages the lips M M on the eyebolt m, that is supported in the rightemployed to fasten the fire-escape appliance.

hand lower arm a. With the exception of the lips M M, the eyebolt m is similar in a general way to the eyebolt K. Both bolts pass horizontally through openings in the arms a a and are provided with terminal nuts; but it will be seen that the flanged nut l by its engagement with the lips M moves in unison with the eyebolt m, and vice versa; or, in other words, it may be stated that as the flanged nut Z is revolved upon the rod I the effect will be to push the eyebolt m in one direction or the other.

The use and operation of my improved device will be evident from the foregoing description of its construction without need of further explanation. When the machine is to be practically employed, it will first be placed upon the rope and by properly rotating one or both of the crank-handles L the rollers C O are caused to tightly bind against the rope. It will be observed that the righthand crank-handle L is generally employed, although at times the left-hand crank L will have to be used. By rotating the right-hand crank L in one direction the arms a a will be forced toward each other, and consequently the rollers C C are caused to bite orgrip tightly upon the rope B. After the apparatus has been thus fastened tightly upon the rope the person who is going to use the same will attach himself thereto or will be harnessed by a fireman or other assistant to the mechanism of the escape, any suitable harness consisting of straps or the like being employed and being suspended on the hook G. The assistant will then by the manipulation of the righthand crank-handle L cause the arms a a to move away from each other, which will obviously result in a lessening of the tension of the wheels C 0 upon the rope B, such diminution of tension being sufficient to allow the escape to begin to slide easilyand slowly down the rope B. The person who is descending can easly regulate the speed of descent, making it slower at times and faster at other times by a proper manipulation of the handles L L. The apparatus may at times, if desired, be brought to a complete standstill on the rope by a proper adjustment of the gripping-rollers C C, regulated by the movement of the aforesaid crank-handles. Hence it will be observed that the mechanism of the escape may be caused to descend as rapidly or as slowly as is desirable or as may be required by the circumstances.

Referring to Fig. 4, I have shown therein a modification of the frame or casing wherein the gripping-rollers O C are supported. In this modification one of the slotted plates D is dispensed with, so as to leave on one side an open slot through which the rope B may be introduced to a point between the rollers G C, and this slot is adapted to be covered and closed after the rope has been inserted by means of certain spring-controlled sliding plates Q Q. These plates Q Q are located Within and guided by means of suitable lips or flanges on the outer faces P P of the slotted or forked ends Z) of the tong-arms b. The contiguous ends of the slides Q are rounded, as shown in Fig. 4, and they are likewise slotted to permit the passage through them of the roller-journals c. Springs 1) bear against the inner ends of the slides Q, and the lip portions of the faces P, said springs serving to force the plates Q toward each other. It will be obvious that by forcing apart the meeting edges of the plates Q, thus contracting the springs 19, a space will be aiforded through which the rope B may be introduced to its normal position between the rollers C, and after this is done the springs will act to return the slides Q, into contact with each other and into position where the space through which the rope is introduced will be closed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a fire-escape, the combination with the tong-arms having wheels or rollers, of mechanism for regulating the grip of the wheels upon the rope, consisting essentially of a T- rod engaging the pivot of the tong-arms and the lower ends of said arms, and crank-handles provided with nuts traveling on the ends of the horizontal part of said T-rod.

2. In a fire-escape, the combination with the tong-arms having rope-gripping wheels, of the screw-threaded bar having a central branch arm slotted to engage the pivot of the tongarms, and traveling nuts on said bar for controlling the bite of the wheels against the rope.

3. In combination with the tong-arms, a horizontal screw-threaded rod, eyebolts in the lower ends of said arms through which the said screw-threaded bar passes, and crankhandles having nuts traveling on the screwthreaded bar, one of the nuts flanged to engage flanges on one of the eyebolts.

4. In a fire-escape, the combination of the pivoted tong arms having rope gripping wheels, perforated bolts supported in the lower ends of said arms, a T-rod'engaging the pivot of the tong-arms and passing through said perforated bolts, traveling nuts on the horizontal portion of the T-rod, one of which engages lips on one of the aforesaid perforated bolts. I

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BERNARD WVILLIAM A l INE.

\Vituesses:

FRED E. TASKER, JAMES F. DUIIAMEL. 

